Constantly getting injured

Yasmine91

Hey guys and girls, hope all is well. I have a major issue about injuring myself whenever I exercise. It's always either my back or my left leg or right foot that gets injured and it's always whenever my fitness level increases. Then I can't walk or perform my best and my level comes back down.

Last week Thursday I was at Zumba and I must of pulled something because during the lesson I felt a sudden sting of pain from my around my hip/bottom and the pain travels all the way down to my leg. Whenever pressure is applied it's annoyingly painful. I don't under sand why I am so prone to getting hurt whenever I exercise. What can I do to stop getting injured? Is it just down to stretching? or is there something else I need to do?

DrMAvDPhD

There are a lot of reasons for something like this. Many of which should be talked about with a doctor.

You could be overtraining and not giving yourself time to recover, making your muscles weaker and more prone to injury.

You could have a medical condition that causes cramping, like low potassium.

I have a condition called hypermobility, which basically means my tendons don't do their job well and I am double jointed everywhere. This makes me more prone to sprains, tendon tears, etc. because my joints don't stop at the normal stopping point. This is also a possibility, but honestly you probably would've noticed it before now.

thoeting

I'm not a doctor, but I do know that pain that travels from your upper butt region down to behind your knee cap is a symptom of a sciatica issue. I had the exact same thing - came on the same way (not in Zumba, but in a cardio class)

Might be time to have a professional look at it. I saw a chiropractor and was very happy with the results,

Pain is your body's way of getting your attention; listening is a good thing!

jppd47

Make sure your eating and fueling your body! Hows your water intake. Looking at your diary you could probably eat more, especially on the days you exercise. Might be beneficial
Resistance training is your friend when it comes to help prevent injures. Look into a weight program.

don't be afraid to talk to your doctor

needtoloseweight25

I agree that talking with a doctor would be most helpful. Also, maybe trying less strenous exercises and working your way up. Strength traing is good, but if you don't know what you are doing you can get injured through that as well.

hongruss

I would suggest to realistically look at whether you are overtraining, book in with a chiropractor & do some foam rolling or yoga as part of your weekly routine.

Russ

Di3012

Hey guys and girls, hope all is well. I have a major issue about injuring myself whenever I exercise. It's always either my back or my left leg or right foot that gets injured and it's always whenever my fitness level increases. Then I can't walk or perform my best and my level comes back down.

Last week Thursday I was at Zumba and I must of pulled something because during the lesson I felt a sudden sting of pain from my around my hip/bottom and the pain travels all the way down to my leg. Whenever pressure is applied it's annoyingly painful. I don't under sand why I am so prone to getting hurt whenever I exercise. What can I do to stop getting injured? Is it just down to stretching? or is there something else I need to do?

That sounds suspiciously like sciatica.

Get that checked out by your doctor, because sciatica is a common occurrence when one of the discs in your back bulges and touches that sciatic nerve, the pain will go down the leg and is very sharp and painful.

Don't muck about when it comes to your back, go find out what it is for definite.

secretlobster

I would suggest to realistically look at whether you are overtraining, book in with a chiropractor & do some foam rolling or yoga as part of your weekly routine.

Russ

This is a good suggestion. It sounds like your injuries have a lot to do with your alignment. Yoga (WITH A GOOD YOGI) is an excellent way to recondition (and periodically check in with) your body's alignment, especially in the spine, and increase flexibility, which could be an issue for you as well. The idea to see a chiropractor makes a lot of sense. I bet that would help you a lot.

vb4evr

Like others mention a great place to start is a doctor to diagnose if there are any issues.

But you did mention one major thing in there as well. Stretching. Its amazing just how much it will do for you, and amazingly as we get older we neglect to do it before exercise. When I played volleyball in Highschool and College we had team run stretching before games and practices that lasted 15 minutes. Older we generally give our arms a couple tugs, say bobs your uncle and off we go leaving our muscles and joints cold and unlubricated causing a drastically increased chance for serious injury.

hbm616

Your leg pain sounds a lot like sciatica. I have issues with sciatica from a slipped disc and have been through physical therapy a few times to help it. I was told that the best thing I can do for it is strengthen my core and stay active and lose weight. Despite losing almost 100lbs since the initial flare I still experience problems,especially if I try to do too much high impact cardio. I have found that stretching really well before and after my work out and gradually increasing my pace/distance has reduced my risk for injury.
Your best bet is seeing a doctor who may prescribe physical therapy and they can teach you ways to prevent injury. Good luck! Sciatica can be a very frustrating issue but it can definitely improve if you take care of yourself.

ETA: Yoga poses that focus on my lower back and opening up my hips have really helped as well.

exacerbe

Could be a number of issues. Overtraining, not stretching, not eating properly, dehydrated, bad form, poor shoes, lack of sleep, inadequate recovery time...

See a chiropractor... devote a day to stretching and light weight lifting.... yoga... drink more water.

Start slow.. listen to your body. If something begins to ache... stop.

See a doctor if necessary.

Wonderwoman2677

I have the same problem... my activity level is very low because everytime I try to increase it I injur myself. I would agree you need to talk to your Dr and a physical trainer if you can. I did better when I had a physical therapist to ask questions, but I haven't been in PT for almost 10 yrs and can't see a trainer.

My interrum advice is to make sure you warm up first, go for a walk or do jumping jacks, etc... before your classes. Make sure you stretch afterward and try ice right after cool down to minimize any swelling in injury prone spots.

auroranflash

That's what happens when pressure is put on your sciatic nerve, could've been from a slipped disc, car accident, etc. Go to a chiropractor.

Shayztar

It could be a million things. When I was 215 I was getting injured all the time when exercising. FOR ME it came down to my body having a hard time carrying the extra weight while moving so vigorously. My joints and tendons and muscles were screaming every time I did a jumping jack, etc. I decided to do less vigorous exercises until I lost some of the weight. Started walking outside instead. I started seeing a massage therapist and she also taught me stretches.

45 lbs less and I no longer have the same issues. I can jump and jog and Zumba with the only pain being from happy exercise pain. That and Plantar Fasciitis. But that's a whole other story. Meh.

LoveMyLife_NYC

I agree that you should go see a doc! If it is sciatica caused by a herniated disc, you CAN workout once the majority of the pain goes away, but you need to be really careful. I have that problem right now, and my trainer has me doing a lot of static exercises. It's really annoying to work out that way, since cardio kickboxing is my favorite class ever! But lots of strength training to build up leg muscles and other muscles surrounding the injury. Stretch the legs and the back as much as you can. And no jumping, twisting, bending, etc. until it's healed. Once you start to feel better, you can do planks as long as your back can handle it. You need to protect your lower back and stretch to relieve the pressure.

nlwilliamson

A good local Chiropractor could help you, it also sounds to me like a sciatic nerve issue, Call your local chiro for an appt and see what they say

zummy123

Hey.
I am a Zumba instructor with over 12 years teaching exercise.

Injuries can be troublesome for many reasons, you may be be warmed up properly.
you may be trying too hard making the moves bigger than they need to be pulling the lower back. The moves need to be quite subtle if there is already a weakness there.
Your trainers may be the wrong type for Zumba, Cross trainers and runners are not always good for some people to wear during Zumba classes. You need a cushioned low profile trainer with only a small amount of grip on the sole. (I wear Nike Zoom and find them best for me).
I would also check in with your doctor just to make sure there is not a risk of prolapsed discs (unlikely)

I would suggest taking it much slower for the first 20 mins of the class to ensure your back is warmed up properly ready for the wiggles and shimmys, and making the moves smaller till your muscles are strong enough to cope. It can take a while to be strong enought o do all the Zumba moves correctly so be patient and enjoy the journey.

Good Luck. Zummy123